Summer Program 2015: The experience of my life

Nour Barazi

Volunteering with jusoor is by far the ‘once in a lifetime’ life-changing event I’ve ever experienced.

My task with the children was basically to do my best to teach them and help them overcome some academic and social difficulties in a creative way, full of fun and joyful activities. Although I’m here to teach the children, they themselves have taught me many lessons in life.

Their smile taught me that no matter what our problems are, we shouldn’t give up on solving them.

Last Friday I gave the children some free time to do whatever they want. Some of them decided to tell me about their stories. I was shocked to hear the heartbreaking stories of those kids. Some told me how they sell items on the streets till as late as 10pm and how they run away from the police. Others told me how they clean shops or sell ice-cream. The most shocking thing for me was the way those children were telling their stories – it was as if they were telling happy stories or even normal stories about their lives. These young children should be living in a peaceful environment full of joy and happiness; unfortunately this is not the case with them.

These kids motivated me to provide them all that I can in lessons, to help them academically and to offer them the best times to enjoy their lives, even though I was volunteering for a short period of time.

I also noticed some of the children were really willing to learn everything that I offered. For example, when I pronounced a new English word in the class, I noticed that some of them wrote the word and some of them repeated it silently to memorize it. Those were the small things that pushed me even more to help those kids with all the sources that I had.

In the end, I felt great participating in such a beautiful experience and had an amazing feeling knowing that my presence was beneficial for those kids, offering them new experiences and helping them to build their creativity.

I hope that I can always participate in such life changing experiences and to be able to offer as much help as I can in my field.

Nour volunteered at Jusoor’s educational centers in Lebanon during July and August as part of the summer volunteer program.